A Nightmare and the Reality
by catattemptswriting
Summary: After the battle with Zeref and Acnologia, Natsu has a nightmare about Lucy dying again, and only she can comfort him. [INTENSE FLUFF Y'ALL] [NALU]


**_NALU - Post Alvarez Empire Arc_**

_Rated T for intense fluff and hurt/comfort._

_After the battle with Zeref and Acnologia, Natsu wakes up from a gut-wrenching nightmare, and only Lucy can comfort him._

**_~ Euphine_**

* * *

Lucy sits up abruptly in bed, her body cringing at the pounding in her head and the heart pressing so tight against her chest as she gasps for air. She inhales sharply to only realize her mouth is utterly dry as her shoulders tug closer to herself, trying and failing to will the sudden pain away. _Ugh, I feel like absolute shit, _Lucy grumbles to herself in pure distaste. She blinks away the tears forming at the corners of her eyes as the sudden pain becomes duller. Dull enough where she can finally fully crack her eyes open to darkness of the night illuminated by the moonlight streaming through her windows.

She stares dumbly at her bedroom wall in front of her as she adjusts to the sudden hangover she's experiencing, and the recent nightmare she woke up from, feeling delirious. Her heart hammers in her chest, making her squeeze her eyes shut again at the absolute _horrid _dream she slowly starts to recall. A horrid dream that she has seen many times before.

During the battle with Zeref, Natsu was on the brink of death, but this time, he didn't wake up.

And her mind conjured up the life Fairy Tail would have after he was gone…how quiet the guild would be, how devastated everyone would feel at the loss of someone so ingrained in everyone's life, how Happy and Lucy would have to resign to a life of loneliness, and how nothing would ever feel like home to her again if he was gone.

She would have blushed from thinking those intimate thoughts about her longtime partner but the lingering fear from her nightmare still zips through her body, and combined with the headache, she just feels like shit.

Vaguely her ears pick up on faint snoring in the background, and as she focuses in on the noise, she realizes how _loud _the snoring actually is.

A sense of comfort instantly washes over her as she recognizes the snores as Natsu's. He's safe, and most importantly, he's _alive. _That thought settles the zipping fear strung throughout her body. The nightmare _isn't_ really, Lucy reminds herself. She sighs in relief, before wincing as the small movement causes another sharp pulse in her head.

Lucy quickly becomes irritant at how the loud snores rattle inside her skull, causing the pain to pulse harder at the back of her head. She unconsciously lets out another breathless groan that causes her to wince again. Has she ever had a hangover this bad before? Thinking hurt too much, so she rather not think about how she even got herself here in this painful situation.

Awkwardly turning her head, she glares at the analogue clock beside her on the nightstand, seeing the time 4:02AM blearing at her in bright red. Knowing that she isn't going to sleep any time soon with this hangover and how thirsty she is, she gingerly moves her legs off the bed, trying to find her fluffy white slippers on the floor to only touch the cold, tiled ground.

"Fuck." Lucy curses, giving up searching for the slippers in the dark and unwillingly suffers through the cold against her feet as she pads across the room to her kitchen, the snoring still echoing in her ears to remind her of her desperation for a hangover remedy.

She enters the kitchen and kicks something soft, surprising herself as she almost yelps outloud, but stops herself before her voice could leave her lips. Taking a moment to recollect herself, she turns on the kitchen light before diming the light both for her poor eyes _and_ to not wake Natsu, and looks down to see what she kicked. Lucy eyes only a single, white slipper on the floor of her kitchen and curses to herself.

Deciding not to question where the other slipper is, Lucy slips on the single slipper and dumbly enjoys the small sense of warmth as she waddles to a kitchen cabinet, grabbing Mira's hangover medicine and a glass of water, before quickly downing the pill and the much needed drink. It honestly brings Lucy to heaven as the water slides down her dry throat, a sense of peace washing over her as the headache seems to lessen with her body being replenished and hydrated. She wets her dry, cracked lips and sighs.

Now feeling a little more like a functional human, she peers over to look into her bedroom. Natsu is sprawled out on her couch, a thin, pink blanket barely reaching above his chest, which surprises her to see him there because he usually always sneaks into bed with her since the battle with Zeref.

Not like Lucy really minds, anyway.

His snoring halts suddenly as a grimace takes over the peaceful look he wore before. His head tosses and turns in discomfort. Lucy's eyebrows furrow with worry. A nightmare? That thought has her eyebrows raising instead.

Huh, she never thought he would have nightmares. Well, maybe she should rephrase that. It's surprising to see Natsu, who always seems so happy and positive, having even a single nightmare. Well now that she thinks about it, it's kind of a dumb thing to believe since Natsu's been through so much trauma. Especially with their recent battle with Zeref.

Chugging the remaining water, she gently places her glass cup in the sink as she walks over to Natsu, her right foot still feeling the cold ground as her other foot is snuggled up in the warmth of her slipper. Her eyebrows pinch in worry at the sudden whine escaping Natsu's throat. She sits on the arm of the couch beside Natsu's head, feeling his salmon hair tickling the edge of her thigh that isn't covered but the short, pink, silk shorts she is wearing.

Her hands gently reach out to feel the tuft of hair, embracing the softness of it as she gently massages his scalp in circular motions before lightly brushing the hairs back. With experience with a motion-sick-Natsu from the many train rides, her skilled hands move from the top of his head towards his ears, before moving back to the top with light motions, using not enough pressure to wake him up but enough to soothe him in his sleep. Just how he likes it.

Her hands repeat the motions, lulling both of them to peace.

Natsu slowly seems to calm down, his rapid breathing settles back into a (thankfully) soft snore and the pinched skin between his eyebrows smooths out. Soothing him even seems to soothe Lucy (or it may be because of Mira's medicine, who knows?), as the pounding in her head recedes to something bearable.

Removing her hands, her stomache starts feeling a little uncomfortable before her ears pick up a soft gurgle starting low in her abdomen. Placing a hand to her stomache to calm her body down like she did to Natsu, Lucy decides that she's hungry. _Well, it's not like I'm going to be sleeping anytime soon,_ she thinks to herself, deciding to make some food. She'll make sure to make enough for Natsu and Happy too so they don't bother her in the morning to cook them anything.

Lucy briefly looks around the room again. She realizes she hasn't heard Happy's soft little snores. Quickly realizing Happy isn't anywhere to be seen, Lucy remembers that he flew out the window when she pushed Natsu to the ground and -

Wait a minute.

Suddenly she remembers last night; her publication, the award she received for her book, the party…and her getting insanely drunk. She remembers vaguely of the flirty conversations she had with a couple of guys there, feeling herself getting especially affectionate that night since she was already so high on happiness from receiving her first award and being around her friends to celebrate with. Plus, Natsu was busy with Happy somewhere, and for some reason her drunken mind thought it would be fine to latch onto someone else.

This next part is kind of blurry to her. She remembers straddling a guy – wait, what?! Her cheeks flush red at _that _realization. Sure, she's a flirty drunk, but her flirty side only actually comes out to one specific person…yeah, you got the point.

She uh, she remembers hugging a guy with red hair? Or pink? Some kind of rosy colour for sure. _Ah, never mind. That makes sense. _Lucy has an inkling that her drunken-self mistakened the guy she straddled as someone else. All of this happened before she was suddenly ripped away from the guy's lap and pulled into someone's much warmer embrace.

After this the alcohol really kicked in, and the rest is hazy. All she knows is that somehow she was brought home (and judging by the body snoring away on her couch, it's probably because of Natsu), and she vaguely remembers the sound of Happy's voice saying that she looked disgusting whilst heaving over a toilet for hours.

Oh yes, she definitely remembers Happy. He was laughing maniacally the whole time Lucy was having a horrid time in her own bathroom, while Natsu awkwardly patted her on the back as he held back her hair. Stupid cat. She'll get him back for that.

Wait, then there's Natsu…

Dear Mavis. Then there's Natsu.

Happy was giggling the whole time as drunk Lucy hugged Natsu, asking him and Happy with slurred words to sleep with her and saying stuff along the lines of "I love you guys sooooooo much!" and other horrendous things that really don't fit her sober character.

Her face flushes red. She also remembers attempting to strip out of her clothes and into her PJs.

Oh Mavis, she thinks Natsu might've actually changed her clothes. Looking down at her comfy, silk pajamas that she definitely did not wear to the award ceremony, she wills any memory about it away. She rather not know whether he changed her or not, even though it's inherently obvious what he's done for her. Still, it's too embarrassing for Lucy to come to terms with.

After the whole fiasco of getting her clothes changed, she definitely remembers the determination running through her veins in getting them into bed with her. And she thinks they both knew her drunken self's next move as the image of Natsu's fearful eyes and Happy's immediate panic crosses her mind. Happy, reacting by flying in the air, dramatically bows before flashing out the window when Lucy was able to push Natsu to the floor and cuddle up with him, _right_ before she passes out on top of her poor partner.

Her stomache protests again, interrupting her thoughts. A blush now brightening her cheeks has her standing up rigidly to go to the kitchen. She plops on the floor, her one foot still touching the cold ground before pattering to the fridge. She opens it, eyes adjusting to the harsh light as she grabs a ton of eggs, ready to distract herself from the memories she just recalled by cooking.

Despite the early morning, she starts to get in a groove as she briefly stretches her body, her back arching as her arms reach out towards the ceiling. Lucy then drops her arms back to her sides and goes to pop some bread in the toaster and grab butter from the fridge. Her ears pick up on the small sound of rustling and panicked grumbling, making her frown. Is that coming from Natsu?

Now keenly aware of the noise from the other room, she goes to open the cabinet where her pans are. As she grabs the handle of the pan in one of her upper cabinets, she hears a frightened shout. And with the quiet of the night, the sound is blaring as she jumps at the sudden noise.

"Lucy? Lucy!" She recognizes Natsu's voice, but hearing the unfamiliar crack in fright and the urgency in his tone made her heart accelerate in worry.

Without a single second of hesitation, Lucy quickly drops the pan that was just in her hold onto the counter abruptly, leaving the pan clattering onto the marble surface. She runs into her bedroom where she sees Natsu sitting up in fright on the couch, tears streaming down his face and his chest heaving as he takes in gasping breaths.

"No, _fuck!_" His hands that clutch the pink blanket in his hands with so much intensity moves to tangle and pull at his already messy hair.

He doesn't seem to sense her yet, which worries her even more since he's always able to detect anyone around him. She is about to walk towards him and try to do _anything _to help him before he throws the thin blanket off his body. Natsu hastily gets up to run to Lucy's bed and when he quickly realizes she isn't there, he looks around rapidly with a panic stricken face. His eyes finally catch on to the dimly lit kitchen and Lucy's dark silhouette.

"L-Luce…?"

When Lucy finally sees the pure _hurt_ and _terror _on his face, it damn well nearly made her break into tears too.

"Oh god, _Luce._" The relief in his voice falls heavily in Lucy's ears as he launches himself towards her, and before she can even blink, his strong arms are wrapped around her small waist as he buries himself into her shoulder.

He's sobbing uncontrollably and she's feeling a swarm of emotions. Shocked, worried, sad. Ignoring her small turmoil, her hands move to fist the shirt on his back, feeling herself shake and almost cry _for _Natsu. She's worried. He's never been like this.

"Shit, _fuck…_" He cries loudly into her neck, breathing heavily with each inhale. She can feel the wet substance of his tears as his arms hold her in a vice grip. He's shaking so badly that her heart tears apart, wanting to swallow up his pain for him. She's never seen Natsu this broken. Not since Igneel, and it terrifies her.

"It's okay, Natsu." Lucy coos at him, rubbing his back. "Don't worry. I'm here."

She doesn't know if her words do anything to help as he proceeds to cry harder. She's never dealt with Natsu like this before. She wants to curse herself for her inability to do anything. It's her turn to help him.

Lucy pulls away a little so she can face Natsu, but feeling her move away from him throws Natsu in a panic. He scrambles to tighten his grip on her to the point of pain. She lets out a gasping whimper but doesn't complain, trying to guide him to sit down on her bed instead.

Eventually he understands and sits beside her, and with no words he lifts Lucy's body, making her yelp but she doesn't oppose of it. Natsu sets her on top of his lap so she faces him and she kneels over his body, her legs situated beside his waist.

His arms are immediately back around her as he sobs in her chest. Lucy runs her hands through his hair, soothing him, telling him that everything will be alright. That it was all just a dream.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lucy hesitantly begins.

There's a little bit of a pause before he looks up at her, bags prominent under his eyes and bloodshot, tears falling down his face and his lips quivering. She presses her own lips together as she studies his face, trying to read him and search for a way to help through expression alone.

At first he doesn't respond. Then Natsu shakes his head 'no' and buries himself back into her chest, placing his head on her heart. Lucy lets out a shaky breath, letting him let out his emotions as she does her best to comfort him, trying to replicate what her mother had done to her when she was ever upset. At some point she hesitantly starts humming a random tune, hoping it gives the same sense of comfort to Natsu as it did to her when she was young.

Feeling Natsu's shaky sobs slowly fade into calm breaths, he finally pulls his head away from her shoulder and shakily says one word.

"Y-you." He starts as he wills his hiccupping away. Her eyes widen.

"Me?" Well, he did call out her name earlier. But she nearly forgot since she was more focused on comforting Natsu. "What about me?"

"The d-dream. You and future Rogue. You, uh," He blinks away the tears. Lucy, hearing 'future Rogue', instantly becomes weary as the hairs on the back of her neck raises. She knows where he's going with this and she already feels just as upset as he is. "You d-died, but there was no future you to protect you. You were g-gone forgood and I f-felt like I couldn't do anything. I _lost _you." His voice cracks on the last sentence as his grip tightens on her. "But then I woke up from the dream. I didn't actually, but in my dream I dreamt I woke up. And y-you and Happy were there and we were eating food you cooked us. Fire noodles or something you know I like. It was…nice. B-but then the dream changed again. And it was when I woke up and saw y-you tied -" He stops to take a shuddering breath. "I s-saw you tied up, blood all over your eyes. And _fucking _Dimaria was there and I-I - _ugh, shit._"

Natsu pauses again to collect himself, and Lucy leans to rest her chin on the top of his head as her hand continues to run through his hair, showing him that she's listening. That she cares. That she's here with him and that she's _alive_.

"It's okay. I'm not hurt Natsu. You've done so much for me. You've saved me so many times." She spills her heart out to him. "I wouldn't be here without you, Natsu. I wouldn't have Fairy Tail. I wouldn't have met everyone that I consider family now. I honestly wouldn't even be _alive_ without you."

He lets out a chocked laugh against her chest at her words. "But Luce, you really need to stop scaring me like that." And although he says it jokingly, the pain laced in his voice is clear. "I, ugh. I don't think I-I could -" His voice cracks again as his hands grip tighter.

There's a couple minutes of unspoken words between them as Natsu calms himself down. Lucy comforts him as best as she can, letting him know that she's here, alive and well as her hands continue to thread through his hair. She feels nervous as he pulls away to stare intensely at her, no longer buried in her shoulder to hide, seeming to memorize her entire being as his eyes flicker across her face.

An idea then pops in her head.

"You know," Lucy smiles at Natsu as his sniffles dwindle down. "I was going to make us some food. Are you hungry?" The intense look he gives her softens before a full blown, Natsu-esc smile lights up his face despite his sniffles.

"Hell yeah I am!" He cheers, slowly going back to himself.

Lucy gets up quickly to start cooking. But the minute she's out of his arms he reaches out to grab her again, pulling her back into his lap but instead, her back is now pressed against his chest.

"Uh, Natsu?" She turns her head to look up at him and sees a pout on her partner's face. "I can't exactly cook like this."

"Actually, I don't want you to leave yet." Natsu whines. Flushing red, Lucy holds back her instinct to Lucy kick him out of embarrassment. And also, Natsu refusing food? What on Earth?!

She huffs. "Just stand there in the kitchen with me then."

"Nah, you're nice and warm and squishy."

"You -" She turns in his lap ready to kick him right out of her apartment before the hands around her waist stop her from turning.

"Luce, I seriously don't want to leave you right now." He says it so sincerely, that she accidentally lets out a small whimper in surprise.

Her face really can't get any redder as she deflates in his lap. "O-okay." She finally relents. Natsu cheers as he pulls the blanket back and hops into bed, dragging Lucy with him. Lucy kicks off the single slipper on her foot and hesitantly crawls closer to him before laying on her side, facing away from him to hide the red blooming on her face.

He even pulls the blanket up to cover her and she frowns, feeling the overwhelming heat typical of the fire dragon slayer. She grabs the blanket and throws it off of her, mumbling, "Too hot."

Natsu chuckles. "Sleep ya' weirdo." He says, his voice getting rough with exhaustion, arms moving to encircle her waist. They grow exhausted swiftly after the earlier burst of emotions. Lucy briefly thinks about how Natsu ruined basically every guy for her as she turns her body around to face him, revealing her blush to his prying eyes. She ignores the way his eyes sparkle and the smirk on his lips at the blush ever evident on her face.

"_You _need to sleep, ya' weirdo." She shoots back, using the same nickname he calls her. He simply pulls her closer to him with a small smile

A silence befalls Natsu and Lucy as they hear the early birds chirping in the morning, and the need to sleep slowly overcomes their senses as they cuddle up against each other. While the first light of the morning sun creeps above the building and begins to cast an orange hue in Lucy's room, three words are uttered from Natsu.

"Thank you, Luce."

They slept peacefully until the late afternoon.

* * *

_If you actually got this far lol, thanks for reading!_

_I know I'm not the best writer, but I really do appreciate any constructive criticism or comments you guys have. I read every review I get and it really means a lot when you guys take the time out of your day, whether it be positive or not :D_

_I also have a second NALU story on here that's much longer so if you don't find my writing incredibly cringe, there's that. If you have any couple requests or other fandoms and AU ideas, lemme know because I'm always looking to write something new. Next up I'll probably do a Shicca drabble (Edens Zero) and then something to do with mates or vampires with Natsu and Lucy (I haven't decided yet trololol)._

_Again, thanks for reading!_

**_~ Euphine_**


End file.
